Release
by Fanfic writer kjfungirl
Summary: *Warning contains spoilers for chapter 614* Their thoughts. Their pain. Their regrets. His freedom. A tribute one-shot for Neji Hyuuga. "The caged bird has finally been set free."


**Hey guys. I recently (as in earlier today) read chapter 614 of Naruto and...I just died. I mean everyone else's deaths I was prepared for. But Neji's I hadn't been. Not only did I fall in love with Neji after Naruto beat the ass-holeishness out of him during the chunin exams and after he became a great guy, but one of my ships has just sank. To the bottom of the mother f****** ocean. I feel so heart broken about Neji's death, I cried for hours before writing this. I can't believe he died! I mean he was like, one of the LAST people I thought would die during the war! Hell, I even thought Kakashi might die before him! It's just not right, and I won't be able to watch the _SD_ series for weeks without crying every time chibi Neji comes on screen, and I may or may not be done with Naruto now. That's just taking it a step too far. HE WAS 17 FOR CRISTSAKE! YOU DON'T PUT DECEASED NEXT TO A 17 YEAR OLD KID'S NAME ON A WIKI PAGE!**

**Anyway, this is a one-shot dedicated to Neji, I wrote it to give som insight on the people who I believe will be the most heavily impacted by the loss of one of the Konoha 11. R.I.P (PLEASE PULL A NAGATO AND BRING EVERYBODY THAT THE JUUBI KILLED BACK TO LIFE AFTER THEY BEAT IT KISHIMOTO-SENSEI! PLEASE!) beloved, friend, cousin, jounin, genius, Neji Hyuuga.**

* * *

Stolen. Taken. Killed. _Murdered._

'_If only I had been stronger! He wouldn't have had to protect me if I had been able to take out those two before the Juubi even awoke,' _Naruto thought bitterly. Neji was one of his precious friends, a precious friend that he had vowed to protect; now one of many he had let down. True, he thought Neji was nothing more than a stuck up jerk who spouted nothing but meaningless crap about destiny, but after the chunin exams, after he had gotten through to him, he had changed. Neji was still pretty stand-offish, but Naruto has seen that he had become a much more likeable guy. Not only that, but the Hyuuga prodigy has-had a lot of talent and promise, that Naruto had to admit is-_was_ admirable.

"_My life too was one of yours,"_ And he had let that life slip away.

* * *

Deceased. Departed. Dead. Gone.

'_If I had been faster, I could have deflected it. Neji nii-san wouldn't have had to step in,'_ Hinata thought mournfully. He was her cousin, her _brother_. Years ago, they didn't have the best relationship, and Hinata did not forget (but did forgive) his attempt on her life during the chunin exams. But he had changed after the exams. They had grown closer, he accepted her as she did him, and together they got stronger. Now, Hinata knew she could have never compared to Neji's strength, she was strong in her own right, but he was always better.

He never bragged about it though. He always helped her become the best she could be. He protected her, no longer out of pure obligation, but out of respect for her, out of love for her. They were family; they were as close as siblings could get, despite the fact that he was a member of the branch house, despite the fact that his skills were beyond hers, despite everything he had to suffer through because of the differences of their standings. And he had fulfilled his role as her guardian until the very end…no matter how much she hated it.

* * *

Untimely. Unfair. Premature. _Wrong._

He had failed. He had promised to take care of Neji, but he had failed. He promised his brother that he would not have to worry about his son. He had lied. The older ones were supposed to protect the young with their lives; the young were the future of the village…the future of the _world_. And yet he let one light, one bright, strong, promising light, go out right before his eyes.

Hiashi knew that the Neji was strong, that he was bright, and genius from a young age. He watched as Neji developed, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that Neji had learned an advanced technique, supposedly only to be known by the main house, by the time he was a genin. It had pained him to know that he would be restricted by the clan's age old laws, but he also knew that the boy would blossom, no matter what his circumstances.

That bud has been uprooted long before its time. Hiashi was _twice_ Neji's age, and yet his nephew was the first to go. He could imagine Hizashi cursing from beyond the grave, and he full well deserved it. He had promised. But he had lied. He had _tried_. But he had _**failed**_.

* * *

Heartbreaking. Surreal. Unbelievable. _Impossible._

He was their team's top performer. Lee's rival, her closest friend…the man she loved. Neji wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, but they had a kind of bond that made it easy to understand one another. She found that bond helped a lot too, because Neji isn't…_wasn't_ very talkative. It was alright though, she had come to understand his little gestures, notice the little things that conveyed the feelings he so cleverly hid. He was the strongest of their team…so how could he be dead?

She was hoping that this was all just one bad dream. That she would wake up and the war wasn't happening. She would get dressed and go to her team's training field, where she would find Guy-sensei encouraging another sparring session between Lee and Neji. Neji would cream Lee as usual and the green clad teen would take a thousand laps around the village with their mentor while she and Neji relaxed under a tree, or did some less-intense training.

Even if she woke up and they were in the middle of the war, she wouldn't mind so long as his death was just a nightmare. She couldn't stand the thought of actually going to sleep that night, to wake up to a world without him in it. Never hearing one of his snide remarks, or seeing one of those rare smiles. Never hearing him tell Lee and Guy to calm down and think things through while on missions. Never seeing him keep a bit too close of a watch on Hinata from up a tree or in an alley while his charge was out with Naruto. Never doing _anything_ with him again.

Her biggest regret, the most painful thing of all, was that she never got to tell him how she felt. She had never plucked up the courage to come out and tell him. Now, she never would.

* * *

Peace. Rest. Freedom. _Release._

Despite their regrets, despite the pain of losing him, there was one thing that they could all agree that they were happy about, Neji, Tenten, and Hiashi especially. No, it wasn't that he could be with his father, it was much too soon for that. Nor was it the fact that he had died as a hero. No, their only source of comfort was in the fact that his curse was gone. The one limit, the source of so much suffering and anger in his life, has finally been erased. The caged bird has finally been set free.


End file.
